Rabble That Needed a Lesson

At first, Kakashi did not pay much attention to those looks, assuming they were merely the villagers' fear of a Jinchuriki.

Naruto, meanwhile, had long since grown used to such treatment.

At that moment, Kakashi stopped in front of a dango stall, intending to buy something to fill their stomachs first.

When they reached the stall, the owner, who had been sitting inside, looked up and immediately noticed Naruto hesitating in front of it.

The stall owner instantly revealed a look of disgust and waved his hand as if shooing away flies.

"What is a Demon Fox Brat like you doing here? What rotten luck. No wonder business has been so bad today." The stall owner glared and snarled viciously, "Get lost already!"

But when the stall owner turned and saw Kakashi beside him, his face green with anger, he froze.

Kakashi said nothing, yet a trace of killing intent flashed through his eyes.

Over the years, he had heard rumors of Naruto's treatment, but he had only assumed the villagers' fear of a Jinchuriki's power had led them to keep their distance. Seeing it for himself today, however, he realized that Naruto had endured such undisguised malice all these years.

"Y-you... who are you?" As a ninja who had worked in the Anbu for years, even the slightest killing intent Kakashi let slip was far more than the dango stall owner could bear. The man staggered backward in fright.

But after seeing Kakashi's Forehead Protector, the man calmed down instead. In this village, it was an ironclad rule that ninja could not lay hands on civilians, so he felt there was no need to fear Kakashi.

Gathering his courage, the man demanded loudly, "What are you to this Demon Fox Brat? What are you trying to do? Are you going to attack a civilian?"

The commotion drew plenty of onlookers. Though most of them were wary of the ninja identity represented by Kakashi's Forehead Protector and did not dare approach, they whispered among themselves nearby.

"Who's that guy?"

"No idea. I've never seen him around that Demon Fox Brat before."

"Either way, can anyone mixed up with that Demon Fox Brat possibly be a good person?"

"Shh, keep it down. He's a ninja."

"A ninja? So what if he is? Does he dare hit someone in the village?"

"Hmph, even if that damned Demon Fox Brat has a ninja backing him now, we can't be afraid of him!"

"That's right! As long as we stand together, Lord Hokage will support us!"

Naturally, Kakashi could not miss the surrounding conversation. His expression grew uglier with every whispered word. This was the son of the Fourth, who had risked his life to protect them during the Nine-Tails Incident. Yet he was being treated like this. Thinking of how he himself had neglected Naruto before, Kakashi wanted nothing more than to slap himself twice.

"Forget it, Big Brother Kakashi. Let's go." Naruto tugged lightly at Kakashi's sleeve and spoke in a low voice.

Kakashi turned to look at the still-chattering dango stall owner, and the killing intent around him erupted without restraint.

How could a mere dango stall owner have ever seen such a sight? He immediately stumbled backward in terror, tripped over a chair behind him, and fell flat on his backside.

After doing that, Kakashi turned and took Naruto by the hand, preparing to leave.

However, the dango stall owner, sprawled on the ground, suddenly began to wail. "Assault! The Demon Fox Brat brought a ninja to beat people up! A ninja is bullying civilians!"

The enormous commotion caused the weekend crowds on Commercial Street to begin gathering in their direction.

Watching the growing crowd and the strange looks on people's faces, Kakashi frowned deeply and could only pull Naruto closer to himself.

Just then, a disturbance suddenly arose at the edge of the crowd.

"What's going on? What's going on? Don't all crowd together! Be careful of a stampede!"

When the onlookers turned around, they found that Military Police Force patrol officers had arrived and quickly made way for them.

The moment Kakashi saw the Military Police Force arrive, he let out a breath of relief. The leader of this patrol squad was Uchiha Saito.

The Military Police Force members dispersed the crowd with standardized smiles, while Uchiha Saito walked up to Kakashi. After giving him a slight nod of greeting, he looked at the dango stall owner sitting on the ground and wailing.

"What happened?" Uchiha Saito asked sternly.

"Sir from the Military Police Force, you came at just the right time!" Upon seeing Uchiha Saito, the dango stall owner scrambled to his feet and began complaining bitterly. "Quick, arrest this ninja who attacked me! He's with that Demon Fox Brat! Arrest that Demon Fox Brat too while you're at it!"

"Big Brother Kakashi didn't hit you!" Naruto could not help speaking up.

"Did you hit him?" Uchiha Saito looked at Kakashi and asked.

"No," Kakashi replied curtly.

Uchiha Saito nodded, then looked at the dango stall owner. "You said he hit you. Do you have any evidence?"

"I... I was knocked down by him!" The dango stall owner lacked confidence, but he still stubbornly insisted.

"Ask around and see whether anyone witnessed this ninja assaulting someone," Uchiha Saito instructed his team members.

Very soon, the Military Police Force squad began its routine questioning with standardized smiles, but the result was obvious.

Those people still dared to gather together and gossip, but they would never dare openly give false testimony before the Military Police Force.

"Do you have anything else to say?" Uchiha Saito asked with a smile as he looked at the troublemaking dango stall owner.

"N-no. It was all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding." Seeing that the odds were against him, the dango stall owner, who had been making an unreasonable scene moments ago, immediately wilted and replied with an awkward grin.

"Since it was all a misunderstanding, let's discuss your illegal occupation of the street." Uchiha Saito said, "How many times has the Military Police Force warned you not to set up your stall out in the street? Men! Take away his stall, then invite him to have a seat at the Military Police Force."

Upon hearing Uchiha Saito's words, the dango stall owner immediately began shouting again.

"You Military Police Force people don't dare offend ninja, so you bully an unarmed civilian like me? I'll file a complaint against you! I'll take this all the way to the Hokage Office!"

However, his attempt to muddle through with shameless bluster was useless against the Commoner Ninja members, who had gradually grown accustomed to Military Police Force work. Two ninja in Military Police Force uniforms simply stood there, smiling at him.

Only after he had exhausted himself from shouting did they move his stall away and escort him to the Military Police Force.

By then, the surrounding crowd had long since scattered. Only then did Uchiha Saito say to Kakashi, "Senior Kakashi, I am on duty, so I will not disturb you any longer. If something like this happens again, just come directly to the Military Police Force."

"I understand. Thank you," Kakashi said with a nod.